My Road to Becoming Fit

[SouthFire]

I would like to receive thoughts and or ideas about what I am currently working towards with my meals and exercise.

Breakfast
Currently, I usually have old fashion oatmeal and low fat vanilla yogurt for breakfast on the mornings where I am running late I usually have my yogurt and grab some spicy tuna and wheat crackers to go. I also have about 30oz of green tea every weekday morning and sometimes on the weekend. The weekends are harder because Paladin and I eat breakfast together and we usually have a few different choices some of which I have to make different because of dislikes. Included breakfast choices we both eat are French toast and pancakes with light and little syrup. We have even tried the protein pancakes that I believe ?Wedgylx? posted a while back. I also like to make different veggie omelets for me, Paladin will not eat eggs, so on these morning he usually has biskets and gravy (which I try to stay away from at all costs). LOL

Mini meals
I call these mini meals because I try to eat six meals through out the day. My morning mini meal is usually 11.5oz can of Heart Healthy Low Sodium V8 and fruit. My afternoon snack usually consists of soybeans or a rice cake and my weakness, a Summer Mix Pepsi. After supper snack is usually missed but when I do want one it is usually a fruit and nut bar or light butter popcorn.

Lunch
Lunch during the week days is a salad which mostly consists on cabbage, carrots, broccoli, green peppers, cucumber, radishes, very little iceberg lettuce, and one in a while I may sprinkle some gojo berries and sunflower seeds on it. After the salad it depends on if there are leftovers from supper the previous night. If there are no leftovers sometimes I will have a can of low sodium chicken noodle soup or a tuna sandwich. On the weekends it is again very difficult on the cycle just because we are getting things done and we lose track of time but we try to eat healthy if we are out we usually stop at subway and get all the veggies on our subs.

Dinner
Wow dinner, this is where my schedule goes bazurk, and this is where I would like more organization. I think it is because I am off work and I have time to fix whatever. We do have the usual list of options that is generally what we have: tacos, spaghetti, fajitas, chicken breast with sides of veggies and a grain, steak again with sides, roast with sides, turkey with sides, and sometimes I get out a cook book or throw together something I do not normally cook. I so have to get a schedule for dinner. As previously reported I am working on this.

Water
I drink water through out the day, I start my morning with a 8oz glass of water and my vitamins. Along with my green tea I usually dink about 22oz of water before lunch (that includes the 8oz mentioned previously). From lunch to 5pm I usually have about 30oz of water and after I get home it varies but I usually have at least 20oz more before bed.



Exercise and Working Out
Ideally I try to schedule two workouts a day but this rarely happens and some days I am even lucky to get in one. What I would like to see is working out aerobically from about 6-7am or 30-45 minutes of good aerobics. This has been hard since it is getting colder and harder and harder to get out of bed for some reason. I would also like to workout when I get home from work, ideally if I do aerobics in the morning I would like to weight lift in the evening. I figure if I try to schedule workouts two times during my day I will be more apt to stick to at least one of them on a daily basis, the days I am able to get both in is just extra benefit for me. This schedule has been seriously lacking in the last month and I feel I need some extra motivation and or support. Hence the reason I am here.

Wow that is a lot of explaining and detail I hope I am not being too word and explanatory for you guys. I would love to hear suggestions or ideas, criticism is welcome. So please feel free to tell me what you think. I am a tough girl I can take, it remember I put up with stubborn Paladin everyday. LOL

[janedoe]

Southfire,

I am in a constant process of changing everything, especially my diet. I feel your pain! I have realized that I am very sensitive to refined carbs, so I made the decision to cut them completely out of my diet, with the exception of my cheat meal on Sunday. It's been REALLY tough, but I feel a LOT better, and I *think* it's helping a bit with my weight and my workouts. Here is a typical day of eating for me:

1) 1 scoop of whey in water
*workout*
2) 1 scoop of whey, sweet potato OR fat free yogurt
3) 1/2 can of tuna in water, 3/4 cup of ff yogurt, 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter
4) 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1 scoop of whey, 10 almonds
5) 1/2 can of tuna, various raw veggies (celery, carrots, cucumbers), 1 tbsp of almond butter
6) Lean meat cooked with 1 tbsp of EVOO, fiberous low carb vegetable
7) 1/4 cup of cottage cheese

After 5, the only carbs I get is from the cottage cheese and trace amounts that are in the veggies. I asked my husband to also give up carbs in the evenings, and he agreed, albeit reluctantly. LOL. But since giving up the evening carbs, he has noticed a nice drop in his weight, so now he is all for the carb-less evening meals.

Do you enter your meals on a calorie counter like Fitday? I *should* do this daily... but I don't. But I hear that if you are trying to nail down your diet, it's one of the first things you should do.

Your workout plan looks great! It must take a lot of discipline to make it to the gym TWICE. Do you have a workout log? Maybe you can post one online and use it for support and accountability?

[SouthFire]

Janedoe,

I wrote this post off as being too long for the guys to read. I appreciate your response very much.

I have tried to eat fewer and fewer carbs for a while now and I do feel a difference. I think I would get very tired of eating the same thing all the time, but your diet should be how I eat. It sounds like a great way to lose weight while keeping active. Thank you for the lay out of your diet, that really helps me. Now all I have to do is stay on it while I cook Paladin and the kids (when they are here) lunch and dinner. HA HA That is the hard part huh. I would just let him cook for himself but he wants to gain weight and if he cooks he will not be able to eat much of it, if any, and he would lose weight. LOL

I used to enter all my meals and count calories, it seems that life has got in my way lately and I have not been doing that for a while. I always seem to stretch myself so tight on time that it is hard to fit little things like that in. I know it helps tremendously and most all of the good plans tell you that is step one. I will try to start back up again. thank you for the reminder.

My workout plan is, unfortunately, just that, a plan, and the reason I try to schedule myself twice in a day is because my schedule is always changing. This way I hope to at least get one in. Oh and I do not have to go far for a gym.

[janedoe]

I *do* get tired of those foods... even though I've only been eating them regularly for about a month. LOL. Especially the cottage cheese. I cannot express how much I detest those curdles. I've been a strict dieter for about 4 years, and I've gone through SUCH a long process of trying to find what works for my body. I'd always seen bodybuilder diets, but I couldn't stand the thought of eating that way. It was probably the ONLY diet I wouldn't try. LOL.

The calorie entering thing is rough. I think I've only been successful at entering a complete day's worth of eating like... 4 times. Maybe post just one day's worth of eating on your thread and see what kind of suggestions people have?


Isn't it irritating how quickly many guys can lose weight. Ah well... I wouldn't trade being a gal for ANYTHING.

[transXisomer]

Wow I had no idea no one had gotten to your post from that time back, sorry someone didn't get to it earlier!

Im tagging this thread to give a better, detailed response to tommorow after my final in biochemistry.

[SouthFire]

Originally Posted by janedoe

I *do* get tired of those foods... even though I've only been eating them regularly for about a month. LOL. Especially the cottage cheese. I cannot express how much I detest those curdles. I've been a strict dieter for about 4 years, and I've gone through SUCH a long process of trying to find what works for my body. I'd always seen bodybuilder diets, but I couldn't stand the thought of eating that way. It was probably the ONLY diet I wouldn't try. LOL.

The calorie entering thing is rough. I think I've only been successful at entering a complete day's worth of eating like... 4 times. Maybe post just one day's worth of eating on your thread and see what kind of suggestions people have?


Isn't it irritating how quickly many guys can lose weight. Ah well... I wouldn't trade being a gal for ANYTHING.

I so hear ya, I am not too trilled about the tuna myself but I have always loved cottage cheese. Off your diet I made up one that has the same outline but fits my schedule better and still cuts out the carbs. I have also gone thru many different diet plans and many work but they are hard to stick to because I get tired of the foods. I sometimes wonder how our dog, scorpion and cats do not mind always eating the same thing over and over again, and wish I could be more like them (not picky) LOL.

I agree just the idea of having to enter in what you have eaten makes me more conscious of what and how much I am eating.

I hate men for that reason too, they can loose weight so quickly, but I would never give up being a female… even though I have always gotten along better with males than females…we females can be so cruel to each other sometimes. LOL

Thanks for all your input, it is great to have another woman to talk to about this.

[SouthFire]

Originally Posted by transXisomer

Wow I had no idea no one had gotten to your post from that time back, sorry someone didn't get to it earlier!

Im tagging this thread to give a better, detailed response to tommorow after my final in biochemistry.

It is not a big deal at all trans, no worries

Good luck on your final!! I just finished up a class myself and started a new one!!

[transXisomer]

Alright, here are some critiques of mine:

- what are your goals?

- Diet seems very carb heavy, depending on your goals this is probably not ideal

- Diet seems to be lacking fats

- What are your stats?

- Dinoiii and I don't recommend cardio

- Do you know your macronutrient breakdown? carbs / proteins / fats?

[transXisomer]

Originally Posted by SouthFire

It is not a big deal at all trans, no worries

Good luck on your final!! I just finished up a class myself and started a new one!!

What classes are you taking if you don't mind me asking?

[janedoe]

Originally Posted by SouthFire

I so hear ya, I am not too trilled about the tuna myself but I have always loved cottage cheese. Off your diet I made up one that has the same outline but fits my schedule better and still cuts out the carbs. I have also gone thru many different diet plans and many work but they are hard to stick to because I get tired of the foods. I sometimes wonder how our dog, scorpion and cats do not mind always eating the same thing over and over again, and wish I could be more like them (not picky) LOL.

I agree just the idea of having to enter in what you have eaten makes me more conscious of what and how much I am eating.

I hate men for that reason too, they can loose weight so quickly, but I would never give up being a female… even though I have always gotten along better with males than females…we females can be so cruel to each other sometimes. LOL

Thanks for all your input, it is great to have another woman to talk to about this.

How's your new diet plan going?

I was told that the diet I posted above is WAY too low on carbs, and that instead of the 18% carbs that is in there, I should aim for something like 35%. LOL. I guess I was getting a little carried away. It's just SO hard to get those macros consistent on a day to day basis. But it is getting easier and easier as the days go by. So now it looks something like this:

1) 1 scoop of whey in water
*workout*
2) 1/2 scoop of whey, 3 spoons of FF yogurt with 1/5 cup of oats
3) 1/2 can of tuna in water, 3/4 cup of ff yogurt, 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter
4) 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1 small sweet potato, 10 almonds
5) 1/2 can of tuna, various raw veggies (celery, carrots, cucumbers), 1 tbsp of almond butter
6) Lean meat/fish cooked with 1 tbsp of EVOO, fiberous low carb vegetable
7) 1/4 cup of cottage cheese

I was also getting TOO many calories, averaging 1600 or more on a daily basis. I wasn't gaining any weight from it, but just maintaining, so I dropped the calories down to 1300-1400, and I am finally seeing the numbers drop a teeny tiny bit.